i'm lovin it...

there's not much to say other than i love her. she's full of love for me and lots of other grands.
selfless, humble (a little too humble sometimes) always last, the best cook, on top of technology just so she can keep up with her scattered family, satisfied with what she has, God loving, God fearing and God teaching, beautiful inside and out and most of all she fills my life with joy and teaches me to be grateful, patient and to love someone through the faults because i'm never too far from my own.

i'm lovin it too

Thanks to this sweet friend I want to give you a few things that I'm loving right now.

My sweet little man is top of the list... and his daddy too. Just no picture of him in a plaid jumper to post. He is in love with Ernie right now. And he says it minus the "r" so it's ridiculously adorable. JD and I are taking a brave step and have become agents for a really great up and coming company. We are definitely NOT risk takers but after consulting some people we really trust we feel like it's an opportunity we can't pass up. We are really walking in faith and are excited to see where He decides to lead us.I love yummy goodness and this place has plenty of it. Cade is a big fan of their sweet potato fries and JD always gets their lasagna or buffalo burgers. I try to try something different every time.

I'm loving me some Missy Habermas too. My "know every little thing about me, good and bad" friend is moving to Knoxville. It's definitely bittersweet. I'm so proud of her for taking this step even though she's not a big fan of change. She is going to work at a fancy salon where I will definitely reap the benefits of her training.
I'll work on getting a picture of us. Some are just plain scary so I'll have to weed through them:)

who needs paper

when you have a shirt and flesh?
We got home yesterday from Florida for a weekend full of parties. My sweet Meme turned 75 and we surprised her with a party full of family and friends. She is my person. I love her dearly and was so happy to spend this special day with her. More pictures of that to come.

Cade is spending the day with his Aunt Trisha and I was worried he's be a pill since he's been with mommy 4 days straight. I asked her for a picture this morning and this is what I got. It really doesn't even look like him. Too innocent and sweet looking I guess:)

you didn't care

You got your first spanking yesterday and you didn't care. "Cade, you're going to get a spanking. I know you don't know what that is but you're not going to like it. I need you to listen to mommy and go get in the bathtub." "NO!!!" So one pop on his sweet little hiney and he stared me down without a hint of a single tear.
Who am I kidding? I can't spank this sweet thing ever again. I just scooped him up and put him in the bathtub. It's getting really hard to be stern and not laugh at his disobedience. We're still in the phase where it's pretty darn cute when he scrunches his eyebrows and stomps his little foot. I know that will soon not be the case but for now I'll just scoop him up and put him where I want him. Honestly, it's just easier on this momma's heart. And for now, that's what we'll do.
Any questions/comments must come from all the perfect mothers of the perfect children please:)

I want one!

...i said pretty please
http://willettedesigns.com/2010/05/holy-cow-it-is-a-beaba-babycook-giveaway/
You may want one too:)

Have you ever...

just wanted to pack up your house and move to a little town just outside of a big town.
walk to the park, library and fresh market
build a cute little house with a big front porch
go to a new church where no one knows your name, your momma's name or your dirty laundry
work at quaint children's clothing store 2 days a week and get 50% off :) (Gap would be fine too)
have a bike with a basket and a bell
have 2 more kids with completed college funds

Those are just a few things I've been thinking about lately. None of them are very realistic right now. But a girl can dream, right?

And since no post is complete without a picture of my little man here is a low quality one from my phone.

just in case i forget

Dear Cade,
Why I love you... always have, always will.
Right now you are turning into this little man I'm not so sure about. Up until this point I pretty much had things under control. Basically there was a lot of maintenance going on. Wake up, feed you, play with you, feed you, play with you, feed you, bathe you, play and sleep. Pretty easy. But now you are learning and learning fast. You have started repeating the last word of my sentences. And I'm still wondering when you're going to say "mommy". It sort of puzzles me but I'll go with it, for a little while anyways. You go get your shoes when I tell you to. You cry because you want to be outside playing in the dirt. You won't eat hardly anything. I don't know if that's because your teeth hurt or you're just being stubborn. If I had to pick a favorite food group for you right now it would be dairy. You are in LOVE with ice cream, yogurt, cheese and mainly your milk. I have yet to get you off your night time bottle. I can't really say that I care too much. It's the only time you'll lay so still next to me. I'm not ready to give up hearing those little noises you make when you're drinking it. And watching you just about finish it and then shake it a little bit to get every last drop. You have finally given up the passy during the day. Thank you for that. You are not a pleasant child with it. Speaking of things you've given up. Thank you for letting me take your bath seat out of the tub. You had become so dependent on it and were so scared your fist bath without it. But now, you're welcome. You love splashing around with no boundaries holding you back. You finally got to ride on the lawn mower with your daddy the other day. You were so cute wearing ear plugs sitting on his lap. You didn't move a muscle the whole time.
Well that's about all for now. I just wanted to get these down before you moved on and I was learning you all over again. I love you so much little one. No matter what, no matter when I will always love you.
Mommy

so very serious

Cade has always had a way with his looks. I can be jumping around like a monkey on a chocolate high and I will typically get the same serious look. At least when he does crack up I know I'm absolutely the most hilarious person around.
This weekend we had an Easter Bunny Mini Session at Black Fox Farms and were able to squeeze Cade and Mary Evelyn in between clients. He kept a safe distance from all of the animals. Maybe next year he will at least look at them.
We are headed to South Carolina this weekend to spend some time with Jonathan's family. It's been too long since we've visited and this will be Cade's first time. We are so excited to see everyone and looking forward to 81 degrees and sunny. I guess I'll be unpacking the summer clothes before we leave!

so we might be a little bit famous

While we were eating our ice cream on Sunday a nice lady from the Chattanooga Times Free Press came by and needed a picture for the paper. As much as I hated to oblige her request I went against my better judgment (completely kidding). So we were in the paper on Monday and luckily she was willing to send me some of the pictures on a disc. So without further ado...

i heart today

Today was a simple day spent with some of my favorite people. We spent the morning with our sweet little 1st graders teaching them how God supplies ALL their needs. Surprisingly they could distinguish in their little hearts between needs and wants which was very refreshing. Then it was off to Shane's Rib Shack with Nana and Grandad for some lunch. Granna gave us a year full of fish at the Aquarium for our birthdays. We've definitely gotten our use out of that. Cade loves just staring with his nose pressed on the glass for as long as we'll let him. Then for my sweet Valentine's request... Clumpie's for some mm mm good ice cream. Cade and I shared apple cinnamon which took me back to fall. The rest was history with some crankiness on the way home. Nothing a mini box of raisins couldn't fix though. Hopefully everyone enjoyed a day full of love... whether it was with a significant other, a parent, sibling or friend. Because love is love. It's not just the ooey gooey mushy gushy love stuff that matters.

Paisley, Paisley give me your answer do...

Not to be confused with Daisy but I really hope I can win Paisley's most recent giveaway! Head on over there for a chance to win the best stamp EVER! http://paisleymonogram.com/blog

leftovers

We had leftover snow, a stick and a sled... what more could a boy ask for.

a "real" snow day

Lately the weathermen have been teasing us of snow but today they finally came through. I think we'll consider this Cade's first real snow. He wasn't too sure about it but he didn't mind walking in it. Jonathan got off work early today so we had the entire afternoon together. We walked down to Camp Eslinger to play with the girls and then decided a nice meal at Cracker Barrel was a good idea. Luckily I have a husband who knows how to drive in just about any weather condition. All of the senior citizens were eating him up. He just went from table to table flashing his solo tooth grin.
It was a good day:)

Mullet Man

Why is it that I am allowed to carry my child in my womb for 10 months and then... well I won't even go into what I had to do to get him here... and take care of him every moment and breath he breathes. I decide what he wears, which is usually pretty cute, what he eats and when he sleeps. BUT... for some reason I am apparently not qualified to decide when he needs his first haircut. Is it a crime to let my 14 month old have a mullet? He is going to have plenty of time to look like a little man. Right now he's going to have to deal with looking like this guyUnfortunately the person who needs to hear this will not read it. So... if you see Mr. Douglas around town please help a sister out and tell him how adorable Cade's hair is. It would be greatly appreciative:)

more pictures

You would think that since I take pictures for a living I would have great images of my own child displayed throughout my house. Well, think again. I have about 3 printed pictures of him and I think that's pretty pathetic on my part. My goal this year is to document his life a little more regularly and not require an appointment:) These are from our Christmas card session Ami did for us back in November. These pictures really show his little personality starting to develop. He has been a boy from day one but he is REALLY starting to act like one. He is constantly climbing on anything and everything to usually to reach what he shouldn't. He snuggles with me and not just when he's tired or hurt. I love watching him get a book from his room and then back his little bootie into Jonathan's lap and turn to the exact page he wants to read. I love to sing Jesus Loves Me to him and watch him settle right down. He loves that song and I love him.

Merry Halloween

I am pretty behind on my posting and apologize to all of my thousands of followers:) So here is Halloween. I put quite a bit of thought and agony over his costume and what he would be this year. I finally settled on a monkey costume from pottery barn until I woke up and realized that I $60 on a 30 minute outfit was ridiculous. So I settled on this super cute one from target for a whopping $19.99. Funny how things work out since I got the flu that morning and we all stayed in. So these pictures are actually from about a month later but I HAD to get his picture made in it.